These were taken on 07/19/10 which was the last flight I took out there.
It takes me a while sometimes to edit, and post everything because I work alone. Please bear with me as I am just now getting around to the final edit on some of this.

The BP government claims that all of the oil seen in these photos is now magically gone from our Gulf....
BP =BS

I have another video I am working on for Barataria that will be out soon.Link to Album

Thursday, July 29, 2010

A young man contacted me about using video footage of mine for a music video about the BP Slick. I gave him permission on a limited basis. The video was completed and posted to You Tube and Fox filed a copyright claim that the video (mine) was fox licensed and therefore not acceptable content. All aerial footage is mine and I can back it up with metadata, flight logs, personal accounts from pilot, coordinator, and the 3 of us in the plane.

Robert has done nothing wrong in using MY video clips and I will back him up in any legal claim he might want to take against Fox, the news shills for BP Slick!

After this interview, Fox laid claim to my video clips and photos of the BP Slick Disaster. They are now claiming that You Tube videos created WITH MY PERMISSION are theirs. Fox is trying to prevent this video from being aired on YT claiming the footage. If anyone gets a challenge from Fox on this please let me and my lawyers know!

The last interview with Fox ever for me!

Environmentalist: You Can Smell Oil Nine Miles Out

Says those responsible should face charges

HOUSTON - We're getting a new perspective on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, thanks to a passionate environmentalist.
With the help of a volunteer pilot, John Wathen (I am NOT a pilot, FOX LIES!)has been documenting the oil spill off the coast of Alabama. What he captures on video, he uploads to YouTube along with narration.
"I was horrified when I looked and saw how many boats there were on the horizon," said Wathen in once of his most recent videos. "It didn't seem to be doing anything at all that was effective."
He started the video by noting the smell of oil just nine miles off the coast.
Wathen is with the environmental group Friends of Hurricane Creek. In an interview with FOX 26 News, he explained why he's so passionate about the gulf oil spill.
"We're a member of the Waterkeeper Aliance," said Wathen. "As a fellow Waterkeeper, I came down to help document the beaches before hand. We're going to continue to document throughout the entire event."
Wathen said he was "shocked beyond words" when he first got a glimpse of the spill.
"For the first time in my environmental career, I feel totally hopeless," Wathen told FOX 26 News. "I don't think there's any way to stop this from hitting the shore."
"We saw the oil sheen behind the islands in the Mississippi Sound. Later that day tar balls were on the beach on Dolphin Island. Today, we have dolphins washing up dead. I just don't believe there is anyway to stop this from making landfall."
So what does the environmentalist think is the worst part of the whole oil spill?
"This is not just an environmentalist issue but a social issue. A community of people have been jeopardized. Their way of life -- their quality of life, has been reduced by a large company that doesn't even house in the United States of America. BP is housed in the Caymen Islands. They don't even pay the same taxes that we do, and yet they have reduced the quality of life for every citizen near the Gulf of Mexico, and that should be considered a crime."
On the web: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG8JHSAVYT0http://www.waterkeeper.org/ht/d/OrganizationDetails/id/473

Unified Command: BP “cannot remember” when dispersant last used.

We checked in with the Unified Command press shop today, to verify that BP still is applying no dispersants in the Gulf.The staffer told us that no dispersants have been applied sub-sea since July 15. This jives with their response to us last week. However, the staffer (same one we talked to before – from USDA), could not say when surface/aerial dispersants application had stopped. This does not exactly jive with what they told us last week.
Last night’s official numbers were the same as they’ve been in every daily update since July 15:

“Approximately 1.84 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—1.07 million on the surface and 771,000 sub-sea.”

However, last week they told us those numbers didn’t quite reflect that there had been surface/aerial dispersant used since July 15. When pressed to give a date when surface/aerial dispersant use stopped, the staffer stated today:

“It’s been a few days. It certainly has been more than about 48 hours …. I’m asking the BP guys if they’ve monitored when it was used since that point [last week], and they cannot remember. And so we very well could not have used dispersants since the last time you called.”

He could not provide a specific date of the last dispersant application, then he referred us to the daily updates and stated “We’re only as good as those numbers”, which last week he said weren’t reflecting when aerial/surface dispersant use stopped.
Major media — please follow up on this — it’s a straightforward query and there’s no reason for no answer. Demand answers. Of course someone in the federal government must know when BP applies dispersant and when they don’t — and if no entity in the federal government knows, that’s a huge problem.
We need total transparency with the use of this chemical brew in the Gulf.

View full size(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)A dispersant plane passes over an oil skimmer as it cleans oil from a leaking pipeline that resulted from the explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. A federal lawsuit filed in Mobile targets BP PLC for its use of Corexit in the Gulf.

MOBILE, Ala. -- BP PLC has used the chemical dispersant Corexit near the shores of Alabama and other coastal areas that it has said are off-limits, a Montgomery lawyer said today.

"I think they are going more inland now than what they are publicly acknowledging," said Rhon Jones, who represents a pair of south Alabama residents who filed a federal lawsuit in Mobile this week against BP.

BP spokesman Ray Melick said no dispersant has been used in state waters.

According to the Joint Information Center at the Unified Area Command in New Orleans, BP has sprayed 1,072,514 gallons of dispersant on the surface of the water and another 771,272 gallons underneath the water at the site of the damaged well.

Officials said dispersant cannot be used within 3 miles of the shore and has not been used anywhere at all since Tropical Storm Bonnie blew through last week.

In the lawsuit, which also names Corexit manufacturer Nalco Co., Janille Turner and Glynis H. Wright seek to represent all Gulf Coast residents who live, travel or work in the area who "will suffer and have suffered the deleterious effects" of the dispersant.

Jones, head of environmental law at Beasley Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles in Montgomery, said this is the 12th lawsuit his firm has filed over the oil spill caused by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed overall, but this is one of a small number that specifically targets the use of Corexit.

"This much dispersant has never been used before," he said.

Attorneys for the firm said that Turner, a Coden resident who owns the Topless Oyster Raw Bar & Grill, and Wright, an Orange Beach resident who does interior design work, both started suffering severe respiratory and gastrointestinal problems shortly after the spill.

"You almost feel like you have a really severe cold that doesn't go away," said Parker Miller, an attorney on the case.

Miller said the firm bases its allegation that BP is using the Corexit close to shore on accounts from Gulf residents who say they have heard and seen the planes at night and by the fact that his clients and their neighbors have reported sudden illnesses.

Miller said he does not think either of his clients came into contact with the water.

"We believe it's in the air," he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency has said that air quality testing along the Gulf Coast has not detected the presence of pollution that would cause long-term health problems. According the Alabama Department of Public Health, at least 114 people have gone to local emergency rooms, clinics and urgent care centers since May 14 complaining of ailments thought to be related to the oil spill.

NEW ORLEANS — A tow boat slammed into an abandoned well north of a bay already hit by crude from the Gulf oil spill, sending a plume of oil and gas spewing into the air Tuesday.
The boat hit the wellhead near Mud Lake early in the day. No one was hurt.
The well is abandoned, the Coast Guard said, and a company called Environmental Safety and Health Inc. hired for the cleanup was on site by the afternoon.
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the massive BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, said 6,000 feet of protective boom was placed around the site. The boom and skimming equipment were already nearby because of the Gulf spill.
Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said a strip of oil 50 yards wide and a mile long was spotted on the water near the well. The extent of the damage beyond that was unclear.
Lt. Brian Sattler said a helicopter was dispatched to survey the area, which is accessible only by boat.
Mud Lake is part of a network of bayous and lakes north of Barataria Bay, an ecologically sensitive coastal estuary where authorities have been fighting waves of oil from the spill that started in the Gulf when the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts said he was confident the leak and spill would be stopped quickly.
"This likely can be contained today," he said in an e-mail Tuesday.
He was concerned, however, because the leak stopped water traffic leading into Barataria Bay. That could hamper efforts to send out oil-fighting equipment that was moved inland ahead of last week's Tropical Storm Bonnie.
"This leaves us vulnerable until we can reopen traffic and get resources back out," Roberts said.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Heroes are made up of people too dumb to get out of the way of danger and those who intentionally face danger in order to stand up for the helpless. Dean Wilson is the latter! Dean, who came to America to defend the Atchafalaya Basin is the kind of person who does not shy away from danger if the cause is right...
In this case the cause is definitely a good one. Thousands of birds are in danger of dying without help. Dean has taken all the necessary steps to do that and is willing to go to jail to take that stand.
Hats off to people like Dean!

Photo by John L. Wathen
Hurricane CREEKKEEPER

"Dean A. Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, on why he decided to get certfied to rescue oiled birds even though he was told that being certified didn't mean that he would be allowed to rescue birds:
"Yeah, but they can no longer say that we are not qualified to do the job.
I cannot do any thing to stop the oil, but I'm not going to sit idle while thousands of animals die horrible deaths because of the greed of a foreign company on our own land. If I find any oiled animal, I will rescue it, even if I have to spend the rest of my life in jail, and if I get arrested I'd rather be a qualified rescuer so there will be no excuse for their actions.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Dispersant Effects

What are the tradeoff considerations being weighed regarding the impact of fish and wildlife when making decisions about the subsea use of dispersants?
Dispersants are generally less toxic than oil. When considering the use of a dispersant in the deep ocean, the federal government weighs the effectiveness of the dispersant in breaking down the oil at such depths, the benefits of preventing the oil from rising to the surface and eventually hitting the shore where it is likely to do significant damage to birds, wetlands and aquatic life, and the long term impacts of the dispersant mixed with oil in deeper waters. We have a monitoring and sampling plan in place to track the movement of the oil and we reserve the right to stop the use of these dispersants at any time based on the results.Are any human health effects expected as a result of using the dispersants? People working with dispersants are strongly advised to use a half face filter mask or an air-supplied breathing apparatus to protect their noses, throats, and lungs, and they should wear nitrile or PVC gloves, coveralls, boots, and chemical splash goggles to keep dispersants off skin and out of their eyes. CDC provides more information on reducing occupational exposures while working with dispersants during the Gulf Oil Spill Response.

What effects could the use of dispersants have on marine life?
It’s important to understand that the use of dispersants is an environmental trade-off. We know dispersants are generally less toxic than the oils they breakdown. We know that surface use of dispersants decreases the environmental risks to shorelines and organisms at the surface and when used this way, dispersants breakdown over several days. However the long term effects on aquatic life are unknown, which is why EPA and the Coast Guard are requiring BP to implement a robust sampling and monitoring plan.
The federal response is intended to ensure that these operations are constantly monitored for any short or long term adverse effects that may outweigh the benefit of using dispersants. How will we know the future and total effects on marine life of dispersant use?
It is too early in the process to know what the scope of the natural resource damage will be. Look to federal partners such as NOAA and DOI for information on impacts to fish, shellfish, marine mammals, turtles, birds and other sensitive resources as well as their habitats, including wetlands, beaches, mudflats, bottom sediments, corals and the water column.Apart from marine life, has the Unified Command been able to make an assessment on the effects of the dispersant on the environment?
The harm or toxicity of dispersed oil in the environment is generally associated with the oil rather than with the dispersant alone. However, use of dispersants breaks up a slick of oil on the surface into smaller droplets that can go beneath the surface. When applied on the surface before spills reach the coastline, dispersants will potentially decrease exposure for surface-dwelling organisms (such as sea birds) and intertidal species (such as mangroves and salt marshes), while increasing exposure to a smaller population of aquatic life found deeper in the water. It is unknown if dispersed oil has toxic implications to the human population because bioaccumulation through the food chain has not been evaluated.
To ensure nearby residents are informed and protected, the EPA is constantly monitoring air quality in the Gulf area through air monitoring air craft, and fixed and mobile air stations. EPA is also monitoring the water along the coast for indicators of water quality and toxicity to aquatic life. Following major oil spills, NOAA conducts annual damage assessments to determine and monitor long term effects on shoreline wildlife and spawning habitats. How will the government ensure the protection of the environment when dispersants are used?
The authorization given to BP to use dispersants on oil stemming from the BP Oil Spill included specific conditions to ensure the protection of the environment and the health of residents in the affected areas. BP, through the Unified Command, continues to monitor the environment for effects of dispersant use. In addition, EPA is collecting air and water quality data daily.
Under the Oil Pollution Act, state, Tribal and federal Natural Resource Trustee agencies are responsible for assessing the injury, loss or destruction of natural resources due to spills. The trustees will also assess any lost human uses of these resources, for example, fishing, hunting, and beach recreational closures. The trustees are also assessing the efficacy of evaluating impacts from the response, including burning, and surface and sub surface dispersant use.

, Alabama and local doctors KNOW how many Baldwin County residents have been POISONED since June 7th when the oil and dispersants came to shore on Pleasure island.
- Skin burns and rashes from the water [and spray]
- Oozing blisters from head to toe from swimming
- Cancerous lesions in deep lunge tissue
- Hurling and vomiting after swimming
- Children bleeding from their ears
The officials in Agent Orange Beach, AL know the truth.
People have given TESTIMONY at PUBLIC MEETINGS.
Yet the press does NOT REPORT the TRUTH. Why?

OSHA and EPA and CDC KNOW THE HEALTH DANGERS!
Read exerpts from OSHA's HAZWOPER Traing Manual below.
ALL BEACHES along the Gulf of Mexico should be CLOSED.
IF ---- IF the OSHA, EPA and CDC HAZMAT standards for WEATHERED CRUDE OIL
airborne DISPERSANTS and COREXIT.
TOURISTS are at GREAT HEALTH RISK for cancer of the skin, kidney and liver.
BP WORKERS are NOT ALLOWED to wear the OSHA REQUIRED HAZMAT GEAR. Why?
OSHA, EPA and CDC are NOT implementing their OWN STANDARDS.
EPA is NOT monitoring the AIR QUALITY on the COAST of ALABAMA.
Although their "Emergency Response" states DAILY testing - of the FOUR [really]
Stationary Air Quality Control Devices the closest is in Pensacola, FL.
Who made the DECISION NOT to follow OSHA - EPA & CDC STANDARDS in ALABAMA?
BP will NOT ALLOW the beach workers to PROTECT themselves from VOC's [Volitile Organic Compounds]
because of TOURISM.
Following is directly from the OSHA HAZWOPER training manual for BP clean up workers:

H E A L T H R I S K S O F WEATHERED CRUDE OIL p28

potential dermatitis from SKINcontact that are PUT INTO THE AIR
during cleanup operations can be irritating to eyes, nose, throat & lungsNOTE: Even if AIR SAMPLING shows NO DETECTABLE LEVELS or
VERY LOW LEVELS of VOC’s [VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS]
There STILLmay be a health danger present.

C O N T A C T A N D A B S O R P T I O N p55

some chemicals can cause irritation or RASHES [dermatitis] if they TOUCH YOUR SKIN
chemicals can be ABSORBEDand go INTO THE BLOOD STREAM
Sometimes without ANY VISIBLEdamage to your skin [rash]
if the chemicals get INSIDE YOUR BODYthey may be able to PASS
throughto your BLOOD STEAMand be carried TO OTHER ORGANS in your body

I N H A L A T I O N p56

When AIRBORNEchemicals enter your LUNGS
they can be ABSORBEDin your BLOOD STREAMGASES AND VAPORS CAN REACH THE DEEP LUNGS
“particle and droplet size effects where the chemical settles in the respiratory track
where the chemical settles in the respiratory tract influences symptoms and diseases”

I N G E S T I O N p57

chemical is SWALLOWED through YOUR MOUTH ABSORBED through the DIGESTIVE TRACT

Chemicals can be caught in mucus and swallowed then absorbed in the digestive tract
Chemicals in the AIR can SETTLEon FOOD or DRINKand be SWALLOWED.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT PROTECTION [PPE] p59

Level D modified clothingis the most common –

TYVEK PANTS, boots, disposable gloves, life jackets and duct tape.

TYVEK pants are typically tied off at the waist.

Boots are duct taped to pants in order to form a seal.

NOTE: More conventional hazmat gear WILL LIKELY NOT BE USED.

RARELY, respirators ranging from an N-95

to a Powered Air Purifying Respirator [PAPR] will be used.

[ Wonder who made this decision - NOT to FOLLOW the standard WRITTEN ABOVE,
this manual was written AFTER the DISASTER on April 20, 2010].

We are evacuating our home in Foley, AL - before we leave, I am determined to share this truth and close the beaches and have OSHA, EPA and CDC follow their OWN STANDARDS and REQUIRE the BP WORKERS to WEAR HAZMAT GEAR along the Gulf of Mexico. The story has been filmed by independent international crews, local national stations....BUT NO ONE HAS PROVED using their OWN LAWS....that OSHA and EPA and CDC are NOT protecting us....why?

WEAR 3 NEWS TOP STORIES VIDEO

PENSACOLA BEACH - There appears to be a lot less oil washing up on Pensacola Beach lately. But what about the oil you can't see?

Dan Thomas joins us now with a Channel Three news investigation.

Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rip Kirby has spent the last few years studying Northwest Florida beaches.

He's a Coastal Geologist with the University of South Florida.

When we first met him a few weeks ago, he showed us this... Sheets of oil under the sand, covered by the outgoing tide.

"Buried Tar and it's constant."
But lately, less oil has been washing up, and chances are if you dig today, you won't see it.

Dan Thomas/dthomas@weartv.com: "The Escambia Health Department says if you can see oil, you should avoid contact with it and take a look out here on the Gulf Islands National Seashore there's really no oil to be seen, that is until you use the UV light. When you shine it on the sand, just like a sheen on the water, it's there."

Through the filter of our camera, the sugar white sand becomes blue and what Kirby says is oil, becomes white.

Rip Kirby/USF Coastal Geologist: "So if you just literally, see the oil under neath it."

Rip Kirby/USF Coastal Geologist: "This is where people scrape their feet. See all the oil right there?"

The stuff was everywhere, a few inches into the sand, a light dusting on top and still more washing in.

Rip Kirby/USF Coastal Geologist: "There's no contamination with the white light, only with the UV light. So during the day if some one came out here and sat in the sand, they're going to get oil product on them just from sitting in the sand. The question becomes how long can they sit in the sand and have it touch their skin and have them lay on the sand with simply a cotton towel between them and this, breathing it before it becomes a toxic problem for them to deal with 20 years from now when they have some kind of cancer? The answer to that is, I don't know."

Rip Kirby/USF Coastal Geologist: "We haven't seen and I've been looking for it for six weeks now and I have not seen a report that tells me the chemical constituents of the oil product that's in the beach sand."

We put a call in to BP... They say they're working on getting us that report.
So far we haven't seen it either.

July 22, 2010
Take Action Now: Tell EPA To End The Use of Toxic Dispersants!
Dear John,

Since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has used, and continues to use, the chemical Corexit to disperse crude oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and at the seafloor, 5,000 feet below the surface. Corexit is not only a toxic substance with untested effects on marine environments; it disperses the oil throughout the water column, which makes oil siphoning and protecting the Gulf Coast with booms virtually impossible.

Help us get 1,000,000 letters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by August 1, demanding they stop BP's use of Corexit!

The EPA process by which dispersants are approved for use is fatally flawed. It includes a way to approve or "list" dispersants, but no process to "de-list" these toxic chemicals. We must protect our marshes, our fisheries and our communities, and we need your help! Please take action today. For greater impact, please print and mail your letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

Send/Print Your Letter Now!

Read More About This Action

Read more about the composition of dispersants and their impact on human health at SaveOurGulf.org.

Click here to see how Corexit is impacting wildlife in Bayou Barataria, Louisiana.

View the video "Dispersants change BP's Oil into forms we may not recognize" on posterous.com.
Remember, we can make a difference in our environment if we speak up and take action. Act now and ask your friends and family to help too!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Waterkeeper Alliance

P.S.- Click the Share tool at the bottom of this e-mail message to share this action on Facebook, Twitter and your other social networks.
Contact Waterkeeper Alliance:

This is a re-post of a message sent to me via Face Book. I removed the names for their privacy.
Evacuation is the only real option for some. I am no doctor or scientist but I am a Paw Paw and a father. I personally would get my kids and family the hell out of here!
Too many lies and misinformation from our BP owned government.
Message below...

"I am leaving the Gulf Coast today....thank you to all of you!!

Today at 3:15am

Dear friends,
I am leaving the Gulf Coast today. I don’t know where this road will lead, but I know where I live is not safe. It has been a difficult decision, but I believe it is the best one for my wife and daughter. The last two months have been some of the most stressful of my life. Every day I see the worst case scenario stuff I've been posting coming true.
I am so exhausted I can’t write all I would like to write, but I wanted to say thanks to all of you. This page was just my way of fighting back, but it was great to see it really became something. I know I was hard on some people when they gave me shit for attacking their favorite puppet. After years of being insulted and attacked by sheeple, I decided I wasn’t going to deal with it here. The right/left stuff is nonsense and I refused to argue with people or bow to what they wanted me to say. All I had to do was click my mouse and the bleating was gone. My life is hard enough right now, banning morons was a no brainer:)
There were times lately I couldn’t sign on to my own page. The stress of hearing the rain, air, water is all toxic here. Tsunamis, fault lines, methane, evacuations….it’s just too much. When my friend filmed that “seep” the other night, it scared the hell out of me. The worst part is that even though my page has been ahead of the national news the whole time, there is not a single person in my family that supports my decision to leave. They are mad at me. Of course, not a single one of them even knows who Dr. Ott is or will even bother to listen to her. They know nothing of Corexit. My wife’s family listens and understands….mine either watch no news or Faux Noise...not sure which is worse:)
No offense, but I would give up the 20,000 of you to get my mom to look. Hell, she is an educator in one of the biggest hospitals in NW FL and thinks I’m paranoid for worrying about the air quality. My grandma actually called the EPA. They told her the air was fine, so she thinks I’m dumb too.
Right now, there is a storm forming that could head right into this mess and when I mention this most people get this dazed look on their face. All this shit will be all over my town when a hurricane hits and NO ONE is prepared. It’s easy to just say, “Oh well”, when it’s not your friends and family in danger, but, it keeps me up at night.
I have a ton to do, so I have to go. I will check in with you guys and the REAL info all my wonderful admins find from the road, when I can. We are trying to look at this as a working vacation and not an evacuation. All about the right frame of mind!
The best part about my page has been all the great friends I have made. People I’ve made admins and admins from other pages. Good people with good hearts. They have made this page and the effort to expose the truth effective. I may never meet some of them, hell, I don’t even know what some of them really look like….but I love them just the same. The kind words and support in these crazy times has meant more than they know. Some of them have provided future job opportunities in their towns and even a place to stay. I have a 16 month old daughter, so there are no words for how much that means to me and my family.
I really have to go to sleep…I have a LOT of driving to do later. If I forget to tag someone in this, please do it for me. I want to thank every one, but my brain is wore out! I love you guys! Good Bless!!

Gathering storm halts Gulf oil well work

AP photo

Brown pelicans try to balance on an oil boom near Martin Island in St. Bernard Parish, La., on Wednesday. Crews found scores of dead birds and several live birds affected by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Monday in the eastern part of the parish behind the Chandeleur Islands.

NEW ORLEANS | A storm brewing in the Caribbean brought the deep-sea effort to plug the ruptured oil well to a near standstill Wednesday just as BP was getting tantalizingly close to going in for the kill.

Work on the relief well — now just days from completion — was suspended, and the cap that has been keeping the oil bottled up since last week may have to be reopened, allowing crude to gush into the sea again for days, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government’s point man on the crisis.

“This is necessarily going to be a judgment call,” said Allen, who was waiting to see how the storm developed before deciding whether to order any of the ships and crews stationed some 50 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico to head for safety.

The cluster of thunderstorms passed over Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, and forecasters said the system would probably move into the Gulf over the weekend. They gave it a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression or a tropical storm by Friday.

Crews had planned to spend Wednesday and today reinforcing with cement the last few feet of the relief tunnel that will be used to pump mud into the gusher and kill it once and for all. But BP put the task on hold and instead placed a temporary plug called a storm packer deep inside the tunnel, in case it has to be abandoned until the storm passes.

“What we didn’t want to do is be in the middle of an operation and potentially put the relief well at some risk,” BP vice president Kent Wells said.

If the work crews are evacuated, it could be two weeks before they can resume the effort to kill the well. That would upset BP’s timetable, which called for finishing the relief tunnel by the end of July and plugging the blown-out well by early August.

Scientists have been scrutinizing underwater video and pressure data for days, trying to determine if the capped well is holding tight or in danger of rupturing and causing an even bigger disaster. If the storm prevents BP from monitoring the well, the cap may simply be reopened, allowing oil to spill into the water, Allen said.

BP and government scientists were meeting to discuss whether the cap could be monitored from shore.

As the storm drew closer, boat captains hired by BP for skimming duty were sent home and told they wouldn’t be going back out for five or six days, said Tom Ard, president of the Orange Beach Fishing Association in Alabama.

In Florida, crews removed booms intended to protect waterways in the Panhandle from oil. High winds and storm surge could carry the booms into sensitive wetlands.

Also, Shell Oil began evacuating employees out in the Gulf.

Even if the storm does not hit the area directly, it could affect the effort to contain the oil and clean it up. Hurricane Alex stayed 500 miles away last month, yet skimming in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida was curtailed for nearly a week.

The relief tunnel extends about two miles under the seabed and is about 50 to 60 feet vertically and four feet horizontally from the ruptured well. BP plans to insert a final string of casing, or drilling pipe, cement it into place, and give it up to a week to set, before attempting to punch through to the blown-out well and kill it.

In other spill-related news:

Work on the relief well — now just days from completion — was suspended, and the cap that has been keeping the oil bottled up since last week may have to be reopened, allowing crude to gush into the sea again for days, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government’s point man on the crisis.

“This is necessarily going to be a judgment call,” said Allen, who was waiting to see how the storm developed before deciding whether to order any of the ships and crews stationed some 50 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico to head for safety.

The cluster of thunderstorms passed over Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, and forecasters said the system would probably move into the Gulf over the weekend. They gave it a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression or a tropical storm by Friday.

Crews had planned to spend Wednesday and today reinforcing with cement the last few feet of the relief tunnel that will be used to pump mud into the gusher and kill it once and for all. But BP put the task on hold and instead placed a temporary plug called a storm packer deep inside the tunnel, in case it has to be abandoned until the storm passes.

“What we didn’t want to do is be in the middle of an operation and potentially put the relief well at some risk,” BP vice president Kent Wells said.

If the work crews are evacuated, it could be two weeks before they can resume the effort to kill the well. That would upset BP’s timetable, which called for finishing the relief tunnel by the end of July and plugging the blown-out well by early August.

Scientists have been scrutinizing underwater video and pressure data for days, trying to determine if the capped well is holding tight or in danger of rupturing and causing an even bigger disaster. If the storm prevents BP from monitoring the well, the cap may simply be reopened, allowing oil to spill into the water, Allen said.

BP and government scientists were meeting to discuss whether the cap could be monitored from shore.

As the storm drew closer, boat captains hired by BP for skimming duty were sent home and told they wouldn’t be going back out for five or six days, said Tom Ard, president of the Orange Beach Fishing Association in Alabama.

In Florida, crews removed booms intended to protect waterways in the Panhandle from oil. High winds and storm surge could carry the booms into sensitive wetlands.

Also, Shell Oil began evacuating employees out in the Gulf.

Even if the storm does not hit the area directly, it could affect the effort to contain the oil and clean it up. Hurricane Alex stayed 500 miles away last month, yet skimming in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida was curtailed for nearly a week.

The relief tunnel extends about two miles under the seabed and is about 50 to 60 feet vertically and four feet horizontally from the ruptured well. BP plans to insert a final string of casing, or drilling pipe, cement it into place, and give it up to a week to set, before attempting to punch through to the blown-out well and kill it.

In other spill-related news:

Four oil giants — BP was not among them — agreed to pool $1 billion to form a new company that would respond to offshore oil spills. The company would be able to mobilize within 24 hours to capture and contain spills at depths of up to 10,000 feet, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

The Times of London quoted unidentified BP sources as saying the company’s beleaguered CEO, Tony Hayward, planned to step down by September after a series of PR blunders, including yacht racing during the spill and saying he wanted his life back. But BP said Hayward still had the full support of its board.

BP’s broken well spewed somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons into the Gulf before the cap was attached. The crisis — the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history — unfolded after the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.

NEW ORLEANS | BP’s broken well was leaking oil and gas again Monday for the first time since the company capped it last week, but the Obama administration’s spill chief said it was no cause for alarm. The stopper was left in place for now.

Ever since the cap was used to bottle up the oil last week, engineers have been watching underwater cameras and monitoring pressure and seismic readings to see whether the well would hold or spring a new leak, perhaps one that could rupture the seafloor and make the disaster worse.

Small amounts of oil and gas started coming from the cap late Sunday, but “we do not believe it is consequential at this time,” retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said.

Also, seepage from the seafloor was detected over the weekend less than two miles away, but Allen said it probably has nothing to do with the well. Oil and gas are known to ooze naturally from fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

At an afternoon briefing in Washington, Allen said BP could keep the cap closed at least another 24 hours, as long as the company remained alert for leaks.

BP and the government had been at odds over the company’s desire to leave the cap in place and employ it like a giant cork in a bottle until a relief well being drilled deep underground can be used to plug up the well permanently.

Allen initially said his preference was to pipe oil through the cap to tankers on the surface to reduce the slight chance that the buildup of pressure inside the well would cause a new blowout. That plan would require releasing millions more gallons of oil into the ocean for a few days during the transition — a spectacle BP apparently wants to avoid

On Monday, Allen budged a bit, saying that unless larger problems develop, he’s not inclined to open the cap.

BP and the government are still trying to understand why pressure readings from the well are lower than expected. Allen offered two possible explanations: The reservoir the oil is gushing from is dwindling, or there is an undiscovered leak somewhere down in the well.

“I’m not prepared to say the well is shut in until the relief well is done,” which is still several weeks away, Allen said. “There are too many uncertainties.”

Robert Carney, a Louisiana State University expert on biological oceanography, said the seepage is far enough away from the well that it could be occurring naturally.

“You have little bubbles rising up from the bottom frequently; that’s the methane gas” he said. “Oil would be a little black dot, more difficult to see. But both escape into the water regularly.”

One other possibility: There are around 27,000 abandoned wells in the Gulf. One of them is within two miles of BP’s blowout, and there is a second well in the area that is not in production.

While officials gave no indication that the seepage was from another well, they’re not checked for leaks, an Associated Press investigation showed this month.

Monday, July 19, 2010

I am getting tired of answering the same old question to industry shills trying to discredit me about the validity of my photos and videos from the BP Slick.

One of the biggest lies out there is the "NO FLY" zone myth.
There is and has NEVER been a "NO FLY ZONE"
There was and still is an advisory to aircraft to stay above 3,000 feet unless prior notice is given to the control tower before descending to less than 3,000 feet.

We file ALL proper flight plans and follow all safety precautions.

Below is a copy of the actual "NOTAM"

What don't they want America to see ?

No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).

Pursuant to 14 CFR section 91.137(a)(1) temporary flight restrictions are in effect for deepwater horizon/mississippi canyon (mc252) incident cleanup and reconstitution operations an area bounded by: 290500n/0904000w or the leeville /lev/ vortac 258 degree radial at 30.1 NM to 300000n/0890000w or the gulfport /gpt/ vortac 169 degree radial at 24.7 NM to 300000n/0870000w or the crestview /cew/ vortac 196 degree radial at 52.2 NM to 280000n/0870000w or the panama city /pfn/ vortac 208 degree radial at 149.6 NM to 280000n/0904000w or the leeville /lev/ vortac 201 degree radial at 76.3 NM to the point of beginning at and below 3000 feet AGL excluding the airspace outside of 12 nautical miles from the us coastline. This area is also depicted on U.S. Gulf coast VFR aeronautical chart id helgc as an area bounded from south pelto 2/sp02 then to south pass 6/sp06 then to chandler 39/ch39 then to pensacola 984/pe984 then to desoto canyon 635/dc635 to south timbalair 242/st242 and then back to original point. All aircraft operations are prohibited except those flights authorized by ATC, routine flights supporting offshore oil operations; federal, state, local and military flight operations supporting oil spill recovery and reconstitution efforts; and air medical and law enforcement operations.

1. All pilots operating within and near this area including the shoreline should exercise extreme caution due to the numerous low level operations associated with the deepwater horizon/mc-252 incident 3000 feet and below.

2. Aircraft involved in these operations may make sudden changes in direction, speed, and altitude. For additional information, participating aircraft altitude assignments and awareness, all pilots are recommended to review the following web site dedicated to the aviation cleanup efforts at: https://1afnorth.Region1.Ang.Af.Mil/deepwater_spill/default.Aspx

3. The incident commander has directed that aircraft participating in the deepwater horizon/mc252 incident, operate at the altitudes assigned by mission type unless otherwise directed.

4. Oil industry aircraft on routine support missions within the TFR area should not operate below 1500 feet weather permitting until within 2 nautical miles of their landing platform/site and remain on. Their assigned mode 3a code at all times. Flights within the temporary flight restriction area should be conducted under visual meteorological conditions (vmc). In the event instrument meteorological conditions (imc) conditions are encountered, pilot's should attempt to maintain VFR to the maximum extent possible or contact ATC for further instructions or exit the TFR via the safest route.

5. Participating aircraft in the recovery efforts are required to contact houma air operations at 985-493-7607 for assigned work area and mode 3a beacon code assignments. Aircraft shall squawk the assigned mode 3a beacon code at all times while inside the TFR.

7. For additional information on air operations within the deepwater horizon TFR see website: https://1afnorth.Region1.Ang.Af.Mil/deepwater_spill/default.Aspx.

8. Pilots are advised to check notams frequently for possible changes prior to operating in this area.
9. Exceptions: operations not covered by the above authorizations may be permitted on a case-by-case basis dependent upon safety issues, operational requirements, weather conditions, and traffic volume. Flights authorized under this exception must be conducted under visual flight rules. Pilots requesting flights under this exception must contact the houma deepwater horizon incident air operations center at 985-493-7804 between the hours of 0600-1800 cst, a minimum of 24 hours prior to desired flight time. Operators should be prepared to provide precise details of their requested flight including: pilots name and contact information, company/organization, purpose of flight, type aircraft, callsign, ingress/egress points and times, requested altitude and route of flight. Pilots will then be provided with additional instructions for obtaining final approval and beacon code assignment.

10. Any aircraft observing oil while operating in the gulf of mexico should report the location to the oil reporting hotline at 866-557-1401 upon landing. Report should include lat/longs of the oil and time observed.

11. Pilots should be aware that flights approved under this exception are subject to last minute change or cancellation due to the dynamic nature of this event. Houma air operations center at 985-493-7607 is the coordination facility. For information about this NOTAM contact the system operations support center (SOSC) at 202-267-8276

No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).

Pursuant to 14 CFR section 91.137(a)(1) temporary flight restrictions are in effect for deepwater horizon/mississippi canyon (mc252) incident cleanup and reconstitution operations an area bounded by: 290500n/0904000w or the leeville /lev/ vortac 258 degree radial at 30.1 NM to 300000n/0890000w or the gulfport /gpt/ vortac 169 degree radial at 24.7 NM to 300000n/0870000w or the crestview /cew/ vortac 196 degree radial at 52.2 NM to 280000n/0870000w or the panama city /pfn/ vortac 208 degree radial at 149.6 NM to 280000n/0904000w or the leeville /lev/ vortac 201 degree radial at 76.3 NM to the point of beginning at and below 3000 feet AGL excluding the airspace outside of 12 nautical miles from the us coastline. This area is also depicted on U.S. Gulf coast VFR aeronautical chart id helgc as an area bounded from south pelto 2/sp02 then to south pass 6/sp06 then to chandler 39/ch39 then to pensacola 984/pe984 then to desoto canyon 635/dc635 to south timbalair 242/st242 and then back to original point. All aircraft operations are prohibited except those flights authorized by ATC, routine flights supporting offshore oil operations; federal, state, local and military flight operations supporting oil spill recovery and reconstitution efforts; and air medical and law enforcement operations.

All pilots operating within and near this area including the shoreline should exercise extreme caution due to the numerous low level operations associated with the deepwater horizon/mc-252 incident 3000 feet and below.

Aircraft involved in these operations may make sudden changes in direction, speed, and altitude. For additional information, participating aircraft altitude assignments and awareness, all pilots are recommended to review the following web site dedicated to the aviation cleanup efforts at: https://1afnorth.Region1.Ang.Af.Mil/deepwater_spill/default.Aspx

The incident commander has directed that aircraft participating in the deepwater horizon/mc252 incident, operate at the altitudes assigned by mission type unless otherwise directed.

Oil industry aircraft on routine support missions within the TFR area should not operate below 1500 feet weather permitting until within 2 nautical miles of their landing platform/site and remain on. Their assigned mode 3a code at all times. Flights within the temporary flight restriction area should be conducted under visual meteorological conditions (vmc). In the event instrument meteorological conditions (imc) conditions are encountered, pilot's should attempt to maintain VFR to the maximum extent possible or contact ATC for further instructions or exit the TFR via the safest route.

Participating aircraft in the recovery efforts are required to contact houma air operations at 985-493-7607 for assigned work area and mode 3a beacon code assignments. Aircraft shall squawk the assigned mode 3a beacon code at all times while inside the TFR.

For additional information on air operations within the deepwater horizon TFR see website: https://1afnorth.Region1.Ang.Af.Mil/deepwater_spill/default.Aspx.

Pilots are advised to check notams frequently for possible changes prior to operating in this area.

Exceptions: operations not covered by the above authorizations may be permitted on a case-by-case basis dependent upon safety issues, operational requirements, weather conditions, and traffic volume. Flights authorized under this exception must be conducted under visual flight rules. Pilots requesting flights under this exception must contact the houma deepwater horizon incident air operations center at 985-493-7804 between the hours of 0600-1800 cst, a minimum of 24 hours prior to desired flight time. Operators should be prepared to provide precise details of their requested flight including: pilots name and contact information, company/organization, purpose of flight, type aircraft, callsign, ingress/egress points and times, requested altitude and route of flight. Pilots will then be provided with additional instructions for obtaining final approval and beacon code assignment.

Any aircraft observing oil while operating in the gulf of mexico should report the location to the oil reporting hotline at 866-557-1401 upon landing. Report should include lat/longs of the oil and time observed.

Pilots should be aware that flights approved under this exception are subject to last minute change or cancellation due to the dynamic nature of this event. Houma air operations center at 985-493-7607 is the coordination facility. For information about this NOTAM contact the system operations support center (SOSC) at 202-267-8276

Who is BP Slick

John L. Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper, located in Tuscaloosa County Alabama. I am the enforcement and advocacy branch of the Friends of Hurricane Creek.
Photographer / videographer, I have dedicated my life to exposing the truth about pollution and lack of accountability by the industries and agencies who use our waterways as waste conduits.